<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>A Difference in Priority by Echovous</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22762414">A Difference in Priority</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Echovous/pseuds/Echovous'>Echovous</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Overwatch (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ashe is kinda a jerk..., Deadlock Gang, Gen, Illegal Activities, It/Its pronouns for Bastion, My First Work in This Fandom, Not Canon Compliant, Omnic Racism, Verbal Abuse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:22:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,122</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22762414</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Echovous/pseuds/Echovous</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bastion has taken an interest in Ashe and her little gang of rebels. </p>
<p>Ashe thinks having a Bastion unit in the family, and the extra firepower that accompanies it, will be good for business.</p>
<p>Nothing goes right.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Difference in Priority</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I recently got back into Overwatch and got the idea to write this.</p>
<p>Lore-wise, I’m not sure how Bastion would get to the southern United States from where he currently is in Sweden with Torbjörn, (it doesn’t really matter in this story) but most likely he was send on a mission and got a little sidetracked.</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Deadlock Rebels were gathered in a loose circle, preparing for the planned raid on a nearby diamond vault. Usually, every scout, brute, and sniper was needed to pull off an operation like this, but Ashe had a secret weapon up her sleeve.</p>
<p>“A-Are you sure about this, Ashe,” Zeke stuttered, glancing nervously between her and Bob.</p>
<p>“Course I’m sure,” Ashe snapped at the skittish man before redirecting her attention to what he was referring to. “Bastion! Front and center!”</p>
<p>A high-pitched bweep sounded at the back of the gathered gang members. At the sound, both human and omnic scattered to not be crushed as the war machine made its way towards Ashe. It stopped in front of her, straightening itself to give a salute with its rifle arm.</p>
<p>“At ease,” Ashe smirked at the omnic.</p>
<p>“I’m still not sure about this...” Zeke whispered. </p>
<p>Beside him, Bars, the omnic sniper, nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah... The Bastion units aren’t like the rest of us, they’re... <i>dangerous.</i>”</p>
<p>“Are you two doubting my decision?” Ashe challenged.</p>
<p>“O-Of course not!” Zeke raised his hands placatingly. “W-We’re just concerned that—“</p>
<p>“It’s not your job to be concerned! It’s your job to <i>listen!</i> Ev’ryone here listens to me!” Ashe snapped. Her eyes panned over the gang only to stop on Bastion. “Isn’t that right, Bastion?” She paused, her smirk widening. “Sit.”</p>
<p>The omnic released a series of whirls, happily dropping down into a low crouch. It rested its arms on its knees, slightly rocking as it attempted to balance itself in such an unsteady position. After a moment, Bastion lifted its head to look at Ashe, releasing a “look at me” beep.</p>
<p>Ashe snorted. “See,” she shot Zeke and Bars an oblique look. “He’s listening.”</p>
<p>Zeke scratched the back of his neck while Bars just looked away.</p>
<p>“Good boy, Bastion,” Ashe praised, lifting her hand from her shotgun to give the large omnic a pat on its head. “Up.”</p>
<p>Bastion quickly hopped to his pedes with a happy whirl, awaiting another order.</p>
<p>“Alright ev’ryone,” Ashe’s gaze panned across the rest of the group. “When we blow through the vault, I want precision and focus! We know exactly what we’re going for, so absolutely no gettin’ sidetracked!”</p>
<p>The gang listened, nodding silently with each word. </p>
<p>“The brothers will blow the door open, Bob will go in first. Everyone else follows him in and kills anyone who dares look ‘em in the eye. Clear?”</p>
<p>Murmurs of agreement.</p>
<p>“Then start heading to the bikes,” she ordered, turning back to address Bastion. “Bastion, this raid is gonna be a big test for you. I want you in your sentry configuration. When you see someone without a Deadlock insignia, you’re gonna fire on them with those <i>sleep bullets</i> we loaded in,” she smirked. “Can ya do that?“</p>
<p>Bastion gave her another salute.</p>
<p>“Good.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>— —</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ashe didn’t leave the clifftop until Bastion was in sentry mode and overlooking the right location.</p>
<p>It watched her leave with the rest of the gang on her new motorcycle. It continued to watch her until she was approaching the last turn which would take her out of sight. Bastion almost looked away, but just before it did, it spotted something fly out from underneath one of the other bikes. </p>
<p>Bastion’s processor pulsed in question at what it was. It focused in on the side of the road to see a small shape flailing its dusty wings. The shape was that of an avian creature and it was alive.</p>
<p>Bastion reconfigured himself back into his Recon mode. Ganymede chirped in surprise at the sudden reconfiguration and swooped down to land on his forearm. The tiny bird chirped again and cocked his head in confusion.</p>
<p>Bastion’s only response was to begin climbing down from the clifftop. The trip was clunky, but eventually it reached solid ground and began towards where the strange bird had been hit.</p>
<p>A single, large explosion boomed in the distance, followed by the sounds of intermittent gunfire, but they didn’t stop Bastion. All Bastion gave the noises were a quick glance before it continued to the injured bird. When Bastion reached it, the bird wasn’t moving. It laid still, it’s slender body covered in dried blood that blended in with its dark brown feathers. Its long feathered tail was crumpled between the bird’s broken legs. </p>
<p>Bastion released a solemn whine at the sight of the broken creature. It crouched down above the bird, calculating how to fix the bird.</p>
<p>On Bastion’s shoulder pauldrons, Ganymede flittered, watching as the omnic brought its welding equipment to the dead roadrunner in the dirt. The corpse of the bird was already mangled beyond recognition, but Bastion carefully attempted to repair the creature just as it would itself.</p>
<p>Bastion continued attempting to weld the bird’s dried wounds shut well into the afternoon. It hadn’t given up on its task, determined to bring the creature back.</p>
<p>“Bastion!” A voice sounded. “What the Hell have you been doin here?!’” </p>
<p>Bastion quickly lifted its head to see a slender woman in a black jacket approach. Ashe.</p>
<p>Bastion bweeped in greeting, but Ashe didn’t acknowledge his greeting. </p>
<p>“We needed you over there, on the clifftop,”<br/>
her finger trembled with pent-up rage as she jabbed it behind her. “Not over here with whatever you—oh gimme that!” She reached forward to snatch the long-feathered, avian from its hand. </p>
<p>“This is roadkill! Your focus on <i>roadkill</i> just cost us our payday!” She shook the dead roadrunner at Bastion, making a point of it, before tossing it aside.</p>
<p>Next, she grabbed Bastion by the narrow orange handle just below his large chest plates and heaved him into a standing position. Bastion was over two thousand pounds of metal and impossible to lift, but Ashe’s demanding presence forced it to stand on its own accord. </p>
<p>“You best have a good reason for why you’ve been disobeyin’ my orders. A real good reason for all of us,” she snapped, releasing his handle. </p>
<p>Bastion let its single optic pan over the rest of the Deadlock Rebels. They all looked torn up and beaten from what had to have been a vicious battle with the guards at the diamond vault.</p>
<p>Bastion lowered its head, bweeping in regret at its negligence. </p>
<p>Ashe growled, but her tough demeanor was fading. “You screwed up big time...” A long pause. “You get one more chance.”</p>
<p>“What?” Zeke demanded. “Why does he get one more chance?”</p>
<p>“Because even though he wasn’t there, his actions didn’t directly cause a mission failure, unlike yours,” Ashe snarled.</p>
<p>“I-I,” Zeke gave up on defending himself and sighed. “Sorry...”</p>
<p>“One more chance,” Ashe jabbed a finger at Bastion. “Don’t you dare make me regret it.”</p>
<p>Bastion gave Ashe another stiff-shouldered salute.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>